1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a camera employing a film provided with a magnetic memory portion and having a magnetic head which comes into contact with the magnetic memory portion of the film to write data to and read out data from the magnetic memory portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
A camera having a retaining mechanism for retaining a magnetic head have been proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 3-168624. Such a camera will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c).
A magnetic head 101 is fixed to the distal end portion of a retaining member 103. The retaining member 103 is rotates about a support shaft 102 which extends perpendicularly to the direction indicated by a bidirectional arrow A, shown in FIG. 5(a), in which a film is transported.
The magnetic head 101 has a core 101a having a gap portion 101b. Core 101a and gap portion 101b are disposed within magnetic head 101. The gap portion 101b is pressed against the magnetic memory portion of the film 105 by means of the elastic force of a pressing spring 104 during transporting of the film, whereby writing of data in and/or reading of data from the magnetic memory portion can be made possible.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,196 discloses a structure which movably retains the magnetic head by a flexible member and which restricts the movement of the magnetic head in directions other than a predetermined direction.
However, the aforementioned conventional techniques have the following problems.
That is, in the former technique, the film 105 is retained in a stepped portion (a tunnel portion) established by an inner rail and an outer rail of the camera. Since the step difference of the stepped portion is larger than that of the film 105, the film 105 is allowed to move freely in the stepped portion in the direction of the thickness of the film (which is indicated by a bidirectional arrow B in FIG. 5(b)) during the transporting of the film. On the other hand, when data is written to or read out from the magnetic memory portion of the film 105 by the magnetic head 101, the gap portion 101b of the magnetic head 101 must be brought into close contact with the magnetic memory portion. Since the film 105 fluctuates in the direction indicated by the bidirectional arrow B during the transporting of the film, the magnetic head 101 must follow this fluctuation of the film 105.
However, the gap portion 101b of the magnetic head 101 is perpendicular to the direction in which the film is transported and has a width of several microns. If the support shaft 102 which allows rocking of the magnetic head 101 through the retaining member 103 is perpendicular to the direction in which the film is transported, as in the case of the aforementioned conventional technique, a gap C, shown in FIG. 5(c), is formed between the gap portion 101b of the magnetic head 101 and the magnetic memory portion of the film 105 by the fluctuation of the film 105. In that case, the gap portion 101b may be prevented from being kept in close contact with the magnetic memory portion, thus preventing writing of data to and/or reading out of data from the magnetic memory portion of the film.
Furthermore, during the assembly, fine adjustment of, for example, the support shaft 102 and the pressing spring 104 is required, thus increasing manufacturing costs.
However, as a practical matter it is difficult for the flexible member to allow the movement of the magnetic head in a particular direction and to restrict the movement thereof in the other directions because deformation of the flexible member is caused by complex composition of flexures in a plurality of directions. Thus, the gap portion 101b of the magnetic head may not be maintained in close contact with the magnetic memory portion of the film due to the fluctuation of the film, as in the case of the former technique. Accordingly, writing of data to and/or reading of data from the magnetic memory portion of the film by the magnetic head may be made impossible.
An object of the present invention is to provide a camera employing a film with a magnetic memory portion or a device for such a camera, which enables a close contact between a gap portion of a magnetic head and the magnetic memory portion of the film to be maintained so as to reliably write data to and/or read out of data from the magnetic memory portion, even if the film fluctuates.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera, or a device for a camera, employing a film provided with a magnetic memory portion, which comprises a magnetic head for writing data to and/or reading out data from the magnetic memory portion of the film, and retaining means for retaining the magnetic head in such a manner as to be rotatable about a shaft which extends in parallel with a direction in which the film is transported.
Other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.